Access to Explore Park via the Parkway Restored from the North
Closures South of Explore Park Remain
National Park Service (NPS) officials announced yesterday that a section of the Blue Ridge Parkway from Milepost 112.4 to Milepost 115.5 is now open providing access to Explore Park from the north. This section is the northernmost portion of a larger closure put in place in late May after multiple landslides in the area. Access to Explore Park via the Parkway remains closed from the south, and through traffic on the parkway south of Explore Park (milepost 115.5) remains closed to Adney Gap (milepost 135.9).
On May 22, 2020, NPS officials announced heavy rain created multiple road hazards in the Roanoke, Virginia, area of the Parkway that required a road closure from milepost 112.4 to milepost 135.9, from U.S. Route 24 to Adney Gap.
Two road hazards in the sections that remain closed, at milepost 119.7 and milepost 127.9, require significant reconstruction and slide prevention measures prior to reopening. Repairs at the smaller of these slides (milepost 119.7) will take place first, in an effort to reopen the section from the Explore Park Access Rd (milepost 115.5) to U.S. 220 (milepost 121.4) by fall of 2020.
The largest hazard is a full road failure roughly one hundred and fifty feet (150′) in length at milepost 127.9. This complex road failure will require a longer-term closure for repair, and the estimated timeline for these repairs is still in development. Visitors are reminded that, due to the hazardous nature of this slope failure, the section of parkway from U.S. 220 (milepost 121.4) to Adney Gap (milepost 135.9) is closed to all uses including motor vehicles, bicycles and pedestrians.
